Page 75 of Missing Pieces
“Yeah, well sometimes the truth doesn’t always need to be heard.” She wraps me into a hug. “I am so sorry and whether you stay or leave is your decision, not mine or Ivy’s. I just hope that East over here will be okay with whatever you decide.”
I pull back and smile at her. “I think he just proved he is more than happy with my decision.”
She shrieks so loudly I need to cover my ears and more than a few heads turn in our direction. “Does that mean you finally hit your head hard enough to knock some sense into it?!”
Easton wraps an arm around me. “More like two bottles of wine and a Taylor Swift dance party.”
“Taylor Swift dance parties always help you make the right decision.” She winks at me then grabs me out of Easton’s grip and pulls me onto the dance floor.
* * *
It had been four days since Summer’s wedding and things could not be better between Easton and me. It was like this fence that we had been climbing over back and forth just disappeared. It’s not like it was hard for us in the past but things just seemed a whole lot easier once I finally decided to stay. Somehow in two days I even moved half my shit into his house. It’s not like we live far apart, but it’s just so much easier to get ready for work when my stuff is in his house. I mean we’re even saving gas money since we tend to just take one truck into town. Even Poe is ecstatic over the much larger yard he gets to run around in.
The only problem that is still weighing on me is Ivy. She hasn’t spoken a word to me since the fight. She ignored me the entire time at Summer’s wedding, which Summer was not too happy about, but at least there were no fights. Ivy decided to take a week off work after the wedding to spend time with the kids leaving me in charge of the diner. Although she didn’t call to tell me that. She told Anna who relayed the information to me.
Last night East and I went to Sawyer’s after work to grab an early dinner and even Trace seemed to have his lips sealed. He just shrugged when I brought it up. Easton so kindly reminded me of the fire to Ivy’s ex and that may very well be the bar if Trace chose any side but Ivy’s.
But I had finally had enough. This whole thing was complete bullshit and I wanted to end it once and for all.
So that’s why I’m sitting in my truck twenty feet from Ivy’s driveway trying to get up the courage to pull in, knock on that door, and tell her to quit being a fucking baby.
I finally pull into the drive and try to calm my nerves by taking deep breaths. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan for her not to be home. A tap on the window breaks my stare on her house. I turn to roll the window down and see her standing there with Chloe on her hip, her truck parked beside mine.
“Are you lost?” she chides.
I sigh as I turn the engine off. “No, I came here to talk. We can’t keep going on like this.”
“You can keep going on however you want. I am perfectly content,” she retorts as she starts walking toward her house, Mason and Jackson following behind her.
“That’s a lie and you know it.” I’m surprised by my forceful tone and so is Ivy as she stops dead in her tracks.
She puts Chloe down and tells them to go inside before turning to me. “You have some nerve showing up here.”
“We need to talk.”
Her laugh is laced with sarcasm. “You mean you came here to say goodbye. How noble.”
She turns away and starts to walk toward the house. “I know you think so little of me. That I would use you all until I was ready to leave and start my life again. But I was so blind to the fact I had already started my life again. With you and East, Summer and Trace. You all are my reason for staying.”
“Reason for staying?” she shouts while turning around to face me. “You finally have discovered a reason for staying?! You’ve been going back and forth about it for months, Harper. All of us have given you parts of our lives and our hearts in hopes you would stay and all you have constantly said was you didn’t know, you weren’t sure, you had to figure shit out. Do you know what it feels like to think you’re not worth it? Not worth sticking around for. I don’t even have to ask you that because I know that is the exact thought process you had with your ex. If I’m not worth it, is Easton worth it?” She pauses, cringing and throwing her hands in the air. “I just don’t get it. And now you think you know? How can I believe that? How can I believe that you are staying? You told me once before and within days you seemed to change your mind. So, what gives this time?”
I am thrown by her verbal explosion. I didn’t think she would be so vocal with me. I honestly thought I was going to need to dodge a few dishes or something to avoid her wrath but not this, not this version of Ivy. “I stepped back. I looked at everything from far away. I saw you and Summer having fun, Easton laughing, and Trace telling me I was a part of this place and it all hit me at once. You all gave me a piece of your hearts and I need to give you all of mine in return. You’ve become my family. And I haven’t had that in a long time. Hell, I’ve even had the money to fix my car for months but didn’t leave. It just took me awhile to realize I was sticking around for that family bond.”
She lifts her brows. “Family huh? Well, most family don’t run away from each other.”
“I’m not running away.” I take a deep breath and hope that she will accept my honesty and apology. “I am moving in with Easton. Slowly, but it’s already started. That way I can make the last huge improvements on your rental and help you sell it. I know it’s not much, but I thought it was the one thing that would help you believe me and how truly sorry I am for pushing you away and making you believe you weren’t worth staying for. I am an idiot. I was trying to find something that was in front of me all along. And I know it might take time, but I want our friendship back. Because I’ll be around for quite some time. Rather indefinitely now.”
A small smile broke across her face. “I can’t believe that big, old brooding man has finally settled down.”
I let out a quiet laugh still unsure of where we stood. But then she threw her arms around me and another missing piece of my heart mended back together.